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kevinferron.com

Data security, websites and AI for tax preparers and bookkeepers in Michigan

The facts your written security plan needs, gathered before the season.

I do the stock-take that gives your plan its facts: the accounts, the devices, sign-in setup, backups and a routine. After that, and only within the consents your clients signed, the document chasing can be drafted for your yes. A site with your checklist and portal link sits alongside.

Ask about a security planStart for $49/month

No set-up fee. Renews monthly; cancel with 30 days' notice.

Built, hosted and looked after for $49 a month, billed monthly. No set-up fee. Month 1 is charged when you start.

I’m Kevin Ferron. Through Kevin Ferron Tech Consultancy & Digital Agency (KFTCDA), based in the Detroit metropolitan area, I build, host and look after websites, set up AI automation, set up account and device security and build fixed-price software for tax preparers and bookkeepers in Michigan.

Updated

Five example layouts for a tax and bookkeeping site. The business is invented, and every layout is fully customizable: yours is designed with you on the intake call.

Your clients’ data, written down

The FTC Safeguards Rule asks tax preparers for a written security plan. IRS Publications 4557 and 5708 explain it and give a sample. Writing the plan is yours to do with your adviser. The security setup gathers the facts it needs, one step at a time.

A tax preparer counts as a financial institution under the FTC Safeguards Rule, which asks for a written security plan, multi-factor sign-in and a breach notice. The stock-take, sign-in setup, device management and backups produce the facts that plan needs, and map onto IRS Publication 4557. This is not legal advice.

  1. What client data you hold, and whereThe account and device stock-take lists every tool and device that holds it.
  2. Who can get inSign-in setup gives each person their own login, with multi-factor sign-in on the accounts that hold client data.
  3. How the devices are protectedDevice management on the phones, tablets and laptops, so a lost one can be locked and wiped.
  4. Whether you can get the data backBackups, set up and tested.
  5. How you keep it currentA quarterly routine that reads the plan again.
  • An account and device stock-take
  • Sign-in setup
  • Device management
  • Backups
  • A quarterly routine

The practice signs its own plan. This is not legal advice. IRS Publication 4557, IRS Publication 5708, a sample plan.

Ask about your phones and logins→

AI on the paperwork, within the consent rules

The AI work starts after the security stock-take and your own sign-off on client-data consent (IRC 7216). Settle the consent question with your own adviser first; this is not legal advice.

Likely first jobs: Chasing missing documents; Month-end close; Tax notices.

An agent graph for tax and bookkeeping3 triggers, Client uploads documents, Month-end close and Tax notice arrives, feed a coordinator that plans and routes. It delegates to 4 agents: Doc chaser (Missing-documents list) with Client portal (read) and Email (draft), Reconciler (Categorise and flag) with Accounting (read) and Bank feeds (read), Notice explainer (Tax notice summary) with Document storage (read) and Practice management (draft) and Engagement drafter (Letters and consents) with Practice management (draft) and E-signature (draft). A reviewer checks each draft: Checks that a signed consent is on file for each use of client data, and that every figure ties back to a source document. A failed check goes back to the agent that made it. Then a person approves (Every client message, Entries before posting and Anything filed or e-signed), and only then is the output produced: Missing-docs request and Month-end flags.Client uploads documentsMonth-end closeTax notice arrivesplanCoordinatorplans and routesdelegateDoc chaserMissing-documents listClient portal (read)Email (draft)ReconcilerCategorise and flagAccounting (read)Bank feeds (read)Notice explainerTax notice summaryDocument storage (read)Practice management (draft)Engagement drafterLetters and consentsPractice management (draft)E-signature (draft)checkReviewerConsent on file; figures tieretryA person approvesEvery client messageEntries before postingAnything filed or e-signedapproveMissing-docs requestMonth-end flags

Reviewer

Checks that a signed consent is on file for each use of client data, and that every figure ties back to a source document.

Never without a person

No assistant uses tax return information for anything but preparing that return, gives tax advice, posts entries, files, e-signs or pays anything, or holds a Social Security or account number in its notes, its run log or a chat history.

Talk it through: a free scoping call→KFTCDA Elite AI Enablement: a 30-minute call, free, and you get a fixed quote before anything starts.

What Elite AI Enablement is→

What the site can have for bookkeepers and tax preparers

These are examples of what the site can have. There is one enquiry form, and the pages are agreed on the intake call.

  • A document checklist page

    For example, a page that lists what a client brings, so the first email is not a list of missing papers.

  • A new-client cutoff banner

    When you are full, a banner that says you are not taking new clients after a date you set. Putting it up and taking it down is a text change.

  • A link to your client portal

    A link to the portal you already use. The site does not take files; the enquiry form is for a first hello.

How it works

  1. Ask and start

    Send a short enquiry with the form. I reply within 24 hours. Use the link to start. No set-up fee. Month 1 is charged when you start.

  2. Send what I need

    You send the words and photos, and the intake call sets out exactly what I need. On the intake call we agree the pages and the enquiry form.

  3. Build, preview, live

    I build it, and you see it before it goes live. From then on I host it, keep it updated and fix what breaks, and I make the small updates you ask for.

The whole process, step by step →

What is included

  • A site built for you: I build it from what you send me, and you see it before it goes live.
  • Hosting and looking after it: Hosting, backups, security updates and fixes when something breaks are part of the monthly price.
  • Small updates: Changes to text, photos, hours and prices after launch are included. New pages or features are quoted separately.
  • Fast, and built for local search: Pages that load quickly on a phone, set up for local search, with an enquiry form that sends each request straight to you.
  • Online booking on Square Appointments: I set it up on your own Square account: up to 5 services, your availability, a deposit taken through your own Square account, reminders, an embed on your site and a link from Google, and one test booking, recorded.
  • Google Analytics events: Every site on the plan sends Google Analytics events for taps to call and email, the enquiry form, clicks to book where the site has Square booking, directions and pages, to a property that you own, at no extra cost. See the events→
  • A privacy page: A short privacy page on your site that says, in plain words, that the site uses Google Analytics.
  • Me, directly: No account manager and no junior bench. You write to me and I answer.

A fixed-price job, if the tools don’t do it

A client-intake flow into the portal you already use, or a consent tracker.

A free scoping call picks the size of the job, and a fixed price comes in writing before anything starts.

Talk through a fixed-price job →

The software-spend review

The software-spend review is one module of Elite AI Enablement. For every recurring software charge you pay, I look at who uses it and what it duplicates, and decide whether to keep it, cut it, downgrade it or consolidate it. It is where the setup stops paying for tools an assistant now makes redundant.

What Elite AI Enablement is →

What the rules say, for tax preparers and bookkeepers

Can a tax preparer use AI with client return data?

Using a client’s return information beyond preparing the return generally needs their consent (IRC 7216). Whether a cloud AI tool falls under an exception is unsettled, so the AI work waits for your adviser’s sign-off. Tax preparers are also financial institutions under the FTC Safeguards Rule, which asks for a written security plan. This is not legal advice.

Sources: IRC 7216; 26 CFR 301.7216-2; FTC Safeguards Rule, 16 CFR 314. Checked .

Questions from tax preparers and bookkeepers

Yes. Federal and Michigan law set the 15th day of the fourth month for a calendar-year return (IRS, When to file; MCL 206.315), so for most people 2026 returns are due April 15, 2027. Yours may differ, so treat this as a note on your site, not tax advice.

Yes. The IRS requires paid tax return preparers to hold a current PTIN (IRS, PTIN requirements for tax return preparers), and the site can say you have one. This is not tax advice.

Yes. List the returns and the bookkeeping you do, and each can have a short page, agreed on the intake call.

No. The site links to the client portal you already use for that. The enquiry form is for a first message.

The FTC Safeguards Rule (16 CFR 314) treats tax preparers as financial institutions and asks for a written plan. IRS Publication 4557 explains it and Publication 5708 is a sample. The stock-take, sign-in setup, device management, backups and a quarterly routine give your plan its facts, and you sign your own plan. This is not legal advice.

Using a client's return information beyond preparing the return generally needs their consent (IRC 7216). Whether a cloud AI tool falls under an exception is unsettled, so the AI work waits for your adviser's sign-off, and any business accounts are listed in your plan. This is not legal advice.

No. It links to your portal, so client files never sit on the website.

No set-up fee. Month 1 is charged when you start. It renews automatically each month. You can cancel any time with 30 days' notice.

No. If you already have one, use it: keep it where it is and point it at the site, or transfer it to me to manage. If you do not have one yet, you pick one and register it in your own name. A new domain is bought separately from the monthly price.

Me. I read every enquiry myself and reply within 24 hours.

Ready for a site that handles the questions before you do?

Start the site before the season opens, or ask a question first. I reply within 24 hours.

Ask about a security planStart for $49/month

No set-up fee. Renews monthly; cancel with 30 days' notice.

Terms and refunds · All KFTCDA services

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